Former Neo-Nazi Says Trump Is Using Racist Dog Whistles

Former neo-Nazi skinhead member Christian Piccolin told CNN host John Harwood that President Donald Trump is has been using dog whistle phrases to appeal to white racists:

The far right has this tactic of calling people out on the left as “haters” or racists or the people trying to suppress the free speech of people on the right. So when the president said that he hopes that all sides would find a way out of this conflict, he was speaking directly about the left-wing folks who were there protesting, I believe. It’s a common tactic.

I have heard the dog whistles throughout his campaign and into the presidency. In the movement, 30 years ago, when I was involved, they would say things like the “Jewish media.” Now they use palatable terms like “liberal media,” or globalism when referring to the “global Jewish conspiracy.” These are very concerted marketing strategies on the ultra right’s part to really make the language more normalized to appeal to more Americans.

Piccolin also said that Trump’s 3-day delay in condemning racist groups sounded contrived:

I would say to the president, right now , that until we put back funding to counter extremism from the far right, from domestic terrorists, we’re not taking this issue seriously. We have an estimated 300,000 sovereign citizens and militia members training in a paramilitary style in this country.

And I can tell you, if we had 300 ISIS members training in any city in America, I don’t think the president would hesitate to drop a bomb on any major city. It’s happened in Philadelphia, it’s happened in Tulsa. We’ve seen this before.

Harwood asked Piccolin if the white supremacy movement is growing, which Piccolin confirmed:

Absolutely. I think it’s bigger now because there’s so much propaganda on the internet that’s recruiting young people who feel marginalized and may not fit in real life, who are searching for an identity, a community and a purpose. Because they are marginalized, because they have some kind of brokenness underneath them, they’re tending to trying to find solutions in simple ways and black and white terms that blame the other.

It is bigger because the media is speaking about it so much, we are recognizing it more in our sons, daughters and co-workers. At some point, we need to take this issue seriously.